Searching for peace: Protests in Shikarpur against bomb blast

Three people were killed on Monday in the attack at Ghazi Ghulam Shah Mari’s shrine.

SUKKUR: A complete shutter-down strike was observed on Tuesday in Shikarpur to protest against the bomb blast at Ghazi Ghulam Shah Mari’s shrine the day before.

Three people, Iqbal Shaikh, Sardar Shaikh and an unidentified man, were killed while 20 others were injured, including the shrine’s caretaker, Hajan Shah Bukhari.

Shikarpur’s deputy commissioner, Dr Azhar Hussain Shah, told The Express Tribune that groups of men armed with sticks and rocks came out onto the streets and forced shopkeepers to keep their businesses closed for the day. They then gathered at Shikarpur bypass and held a sit-in, blocking the flow of traffic. The deputy commissioner added that the protesters ended the protest after he negotiated with them. A number of vehicles were also damaged during the protest.



Searching for clues

Irshad Ali Soomro, a sub-inspector from the Bomb Disposal Squad, told The Express Tribune that the bomb weighed approximately one-and-half kilogrammes and packed with material which had originated from abroad.

He quoted eyewitnesses, who claimed that a young man with fair complexion left a black shopping bag near the shrine’s entrance. The man, who seemed to be confused, left the shrine while talking to someone on the phone. “The blast occurred ten minutes after he left,” Soomro added.   The shrine’s caretaker, who had 15 to 20 per cent burn injuries in the blast, was taken to Civil Hospital, Sukkur, and then to Patel hospital in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2013.